Fiji attacks prompt security review

Page Tools

Security is being reviewed after two attacks on Australian
embassy staff in Fiji, including an assault which broke the High
Commissioner's jaw.

The Australian government also updated its travel advice to the
Pacific nation, warning of robbery, theft and assaults on
foreigners.

Local police said there was no need to step up protection of
High Commission staff in the capital Suva, but the attacks have
already prompted a security review by Canberra.

"The security implications for staff at the Australian High
Commission is under review and we'll take any measures deemed
necessary," a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade (DFAT) in Canberra said.

Two Australian women who work for the High Commission were the
victims of the latest attack on Wednesday night.

Three men wielding cane-cutting knives dragged them from their
car in the driveway of one woman's home and robbed them of personal
items.

Police said the car was pushed into the street and hit another
vehicle. The women suffered minor injuries but were left
traumatised.

The attack followed the bashing and robbery of Australia's High
Commissioner to Fiji, Jennifer Rawson, while she was jogging in
Suva last Saturday morning.

A man punched her in the face, breaking her jaw, and stole her
walkman. Ms Rawson was flown to Australia for surgery.

The Fijian Police Commissioner, Australian Andrew Hughes, said
the attacks were unrelated and there was no general threat to
Australians.

He said both robberies were opportunistic and there was no need
for police to step up protection of embassy staff.

"We don't see a need on the strength of these two incidents to
do that as both attacks occurred away from the High Commission," Mr
Hughes said.

"Certainly the first one, and the second one equally, has all
the hallmarks of being an opportunistic attack and not targeting
Australians."

The women attacked on Wednesday were not diplomats and were
hired locally.

One of them worked as a secretary to Australian Federal Police
officers based in Suva who have been involved in investigating the
attacks.

No arrests have been made, but Mr Hughes said a man found nearby
on the night with house-breaking equipment and a balaclava was in
police custody.

"That's being looked into to see if there's any connection to
his presence in that vicinity with the equipment he had and the
attack on the two women."

Ms Rawson, meanwhile, was still recovering in a Sydney hospital
after having reconstructive surgery on her jaw.

She was recovering well and was expected to return to work in
Suva in the coming weeks, the DFAT spokeswoman said.